


“Gwené Maranno, Sixth Handmaiden in the First Class for Padmé Amidala”

by Polgarawolf



Series: Star Wars: You Became to Me [8]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: F/F, F/M, Handmaidens, Injury, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), POV Original Character, Sacrificial ethics, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-10-01
Updated: 2007-10-01
Packaged: 2017-11-13 07:13:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/500860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Polgarawolf/pseuds/Polgarawolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is fifteen random but chronological moments from the life of Gwené Maranno, who is, quite literally, the sixth handmaiden (or the first in the group chosen from among a pool of applicants rather than deliberately recruited or drawn from among various friends/allies) in the first training class of potential handmaidens chosen for newly elected Nabooian Queen Padmé Amidala. There is an actual story here – one small thread among the vast woven tapestry of life that is the living history of the galaxy, stretched out and twisted, knotted into the whole, curled down among the roots of time, connecting various moments together – but one must read between the lines to capture it. It is not precisely the truth, for the subtle story of these moments is sketched out here in words, and, in the sin of writing down a life, it inevitably changes the shape of things. But it is nevertheless a form of truth. (From a certain point of view . . . )</p>
            </blockquote>





	“Gwené Maranno, Sixth Handmaiden in the First Class for Padmé Amidala”

**Author's Note:**

> **Warning:** This story functions as a sort of compressed codex for Gwené Maranno’s life, as she is going to be written (or at least referred to) in my not even nearly complete AU **Star Wars** series **_You Became to Me_**. If anything doesn’t make sense, please feel free to ask!
> 
>  **Author’s Notes: 1.)** Again, for anyone interested, this not-quite-a-story is compatible with my SW AU series **_You Became to Me_** __, including the trilogy _Thwarting the Revenge of the Sith_ , if you squint at a couple of things sideways and view a few others solely through the lens of Gwené Maranno’s eyes. **2.)** Although this is technically modeled on a prompt set that I borrowed from somewhere or another on the LJ (I really don’t recall from where anymore, though if someone would like to set the record straight, I’ll add the info for the community in question here in my notes), it’s not meant to function as a response to whatever the challenge actually is that’s associated with said LJ prompt set. I just used the specific prompts to give me a reason to string together a backstory of sorts for Gwené. **3.)** Readers might want to consider the fact that Gwené, like a lot of native Nabooians, is fairly strong in the Force, but that she hasn’t received any training whatsoever to speak of and so has no real conscious control over that sensitivity to the Force. **4.)** Readers interested in knowing who the physical models are for original characters like Gwené should please consult the latest versions of my posted lists of cast original and EU characters and for handmaid(en)s and other important Nabooian characters, which are available on my LJ! For clarity’s sake, though, please keep in mind that Gwené is physically modeled on a teenaged Laura Marano, and Gwené Maranno’s parents, Lucidé and Darniss Maranno, should be pictured as Eric Close and Vanessa Britting, while Nanné Maranno’s parents, Belluna and Sammase Marano, should be pictured as Rob Lowe and Vanessa Britting. Please note that characters who may be alluded to but not referenced by name (certain family members of original characters, for example) are considered too minor to be cast at this time, and readers should feel free to imagine them howsoever they wish! **5.)** Handmaidens often tend to pair off (and Gwené is aware of several such pairings, before the end, which is why I've added a relationship label for original female characters and the underage warning), but in this case Gwené never really sees the need for a partner while she has her cousin’s friendship and keeps herself too busy for anyone to really court her. **6.)** Speaking of pairings, I've labeled this to indicate both Padmé Amidala's and Sabé's love for Obi-Wan, because, even though it may not be specifically mentioned in this character study piece, handmaid(en)s know so much about their sworn Lady that readers can be certain that Gwené, like all of Amidala's other handmaid(en)s who knew him (or knew of him), would have surely known about both their Lady's and Sabé's love and high regard for Obi-Wan, just as they would have known about how much Amidala and Sabé love one another!
> 
>  **Story Notes:** **1.)** Since this is part of a larger on-going AU series that in some respects fairly closely mirrors or follows events of canon (up to a certain point, anyway), readers should please keep in mind that certain characters and events from the prequel movies/novelizations of the films and even events/places/people referenced in the EU or Expanded Universe may be mentioned or alluded to in this story. If anyone has any questions about whether someone or something is AU, canon, or EU canon, please feel free to ask! **2.)** Readers should probably be aware that I am roughly estimating (guestimating might be a better word) the original publication date for most of the character study pieces in the **_You Became to Me_** series (and indeed most of my stories, especially the ones written over a long period of time), based on when I roughed out notes for them in the story notebooks I carry everywhere with me and when I can recall having worked on certain groups of characters. The year is going to be accurate, but the month might be off and the day will almost certainly be randomly chosen, since the online account I had originally posted many of these stories to no longer exists. I tend to go back and edit things that are in series whenever I get the time or a new idea causes me to have to make room for something else plot-wise, and odds are good that a story could have been edited for typos as recently as the day of its posting here, but the original version will likely be much older and fairly close to the publication date that I attach to it, if anyone's curious!

**“Gwené Maranno, Sixth Handmaiden in the First Class for Padmé Amidala”**

 

 **01.) Champagne:** She’s barely thirteen – far too young for this kind of work, according to her mother; easily old enough to start making a difference with her life, according to her father; old enough to want what she wants and to clearly know it, in her own mind, but young enough to still be a little frightened of getting it and to be more than a little relieved at the prospect of being able to go after it with her slightly older (though not much more than a year, really) first cousin by her side, ready to help out if necessary and to keep her company on her chosen path (or at least along for the ride once the second class of potential handmaidens has been properly trained, too) – and the champagne goes straight to her head, but she drinks it anyway, because she’s one of the three youngest girls to be accepted into the first class of handmaiden hopefuls for the new young Queen of Naboo, Amidala, and she considers it to be only the first of many such victories, as she embarks on her career in politics.

 **02.) Ordinary:** It isn’t greed or power-lust that makes her fight so hard to learn everything she can and be the very best of all the handmaiden potentials possible, but rather a desperate need to excel enough to make her mark among a group of such extraordinary young women that, for the first time in her life, she feels all but ordinary.

 **03.) Blood:** The young Queen is partial to red, for its message of courage and bravery, but all she can see when she looks at all that scarlet and crimson and ruby is the willingly shed blood that it represents, and she starts to wonder if she’s really cut out for this line of work after all.

 **04.) Private:** The private beaches of Varykino shine white and pristine and beautiful in the sun, and she wishes, wistfully, that they actually had enough free time to really appreciate and explore them and the other natural beauties of the Lake House Retreat, including the golden sands of the nearby satellite islands that are also included amongst the Naberrie property.

 **05.) Gentle:** Some of the instructors are rougher than others in appearance and manner, while others are merely gruff or brisk in manner but meticulously precise and careful of the students in action, and she finds herself caring a great deal for the good opinion of one brusquely matter of fact hand-to-hand combat instructor with a rough aspect but oddly gentle hands, so much so that she pushes herself hard to learn and to excel, even though she personally thinks that this kind of defensive/offensive training is a little bit excessive (perhaps even slightly paranoid, considering the relatively peaceful times), even if handmaidens _are_ meant to be able to act as bodyguards for the Queen.

 **06.) Rare:** The deafening bang of the old-fashioned projectile weapon makes her instantly dive for the floor, taking down the stand-in for the Queen with her, and she is rewarded with a rare sliver of a smile from their rare weapons instructor for reacting a millisecond quicker than the other two girls also being tested for the swiftness of their reflexes.

 **07.) Brilliant:** Despite her own exceptional skills and intelligence (or perhaps because of it), she normally wouldn’t think that a girl only a few scant years older than she is would have much of anything useful to impart to a group of people like her; Sabé Dahn, though – the young Queen’s decoy and longtime best friend – is easily one of the most brilliant and demanding and devoted and gifted teachers she’s ever had in her life, both on and off of the grounds of the training salle, and she finds herself desperately hoping to one day be even half so clever and quick and graceful and wise and full of fire as Lady Sabé.

 **08.) Girl:** She’s a well-born thirteen-year-old girl from a well-to-do household, not a trained athlete, and, as she takes stock of herself in the mirror one night, back at the Palace, she’s frankly shocked at the obvious amount of physical progress she’s made, in just over a month of solid training.

 **09.) Dance:** Dancing is something she’s always regarded as a private pleasure, and so it’s rather strange, at first, to have the workings of the royal court and their jobs within the confines of the court be described as a deadly serious dance; yet, after giving the matter some thought, she has to admit that the metaphor fits, and so she finds herself with a whole new hunger and appreciation and talent for dancing.

 **10.) Alarm:** When the lights flicker and the temperature and climate control regulators abruptly go out, she knows that something serious is wrong and runs for the panic button that sounds the alarm in the wing of the Palace set aside for handmaidens’ quarters, thoroughly prepared to take any reprimand that might be handed out if this proves to be a false alarm or just some kind of drill but too filled with urgency and convinced that this is the real thing to hesitate at all over slamming the button down that will alert the others to a clear and present danger to the Queen.

 **11.) Help:** With the help of her cousin (who was in the handmaiden training class after her and did well enough during that period of testing and instruction to be accepted as a member of the second school of handmaidens), she’s able to gather up most of her training class and over half of the class below hers and the group of potential hopefuls who’ve had the ill-luck to be brought to the Palace for evaluation on the same day as what appears to be a genuine crisis, and they make excellent time from their wing to the Palace throne room, so she’s understandably a bit disappointed when Sabé and the Queen are both already gone – off performing their switch – and it is Eirtaé who coolly tells her, “It is good that you came, but we are hopelessly outnumbered and cannot hope to fight our way out of here, so you will all have to go back the way you came, quickly, and scatter and go to ground: the Queen has commanded those of her handmaidens and handmaids who are not coming with her to go underground and organize a resistance, if possible, while she attempts to make her way to Coruscant, to plead our case before the Senate, and I’m afraid that she’s already decided that she is not going to attempt to take any others aside from her principal handmaidens with her.”

 **12.) Young:** If anyone had asked her even a week before the Trade Federation and their droid armies came swooping down upon their planet, she would have said that she’s too young – and therefore too little and too weak, really – to make an effective freedom fighter; yet, somehow, between the almost frightening military genius of the young handmaiden hopeful Dormé Tammesin, the willpower and fire and charismatic leadership skills of her fellow handmaidens Dané and Shelanné, and the rallying point provided by the incredibly young and extremely righteously furious Princess Ellie of Theed, who possesses awe-inspiring oratorical skills, she nevertheless manages to find the strength and courage and leadership ability to handle a cell of over one hundred fighters and spies and allied supporters of the cause of freedom and liberty from the Trade Federation’s unlawful yoke.

 **13.) Trap:** She knows, somehow, that the supply depot is a trap from the moment they get there, and she’s calling for a full retreat almost instantly, too focused on getting her people safely out of there to even notice when the trap springs and battle droids and traitors armed with blasters start flooding out of the supposedly forgotten and unguarded warehouse towards them.

 **14.) Luxury:** The pain from the blaster shot is incredible, but she grits her teeth together hard over a shriek of agony and holds her ground and guards the line of retreat until everyone but her cousin (the damn fool idiot, who refuses to follow orders and get to safety until she comes away, too!) is clear, and then she bites back hard on the scream that still wants to rise and grabs Nanné and hauls her bodily back away from the fight with her, dragging herself and her cousin to safety and only permitting herself the luxury of unconsciousness after they’ve gotten cleanly away to the nearest safe house in the region.

 **15.) Challenge:** She listens, stoically, as her former favorite teacher and trainer quietly tells her, “The wounds you took in battle have damaged your heart, Gwené, to the point where the med-droids and Healers all insist that any prolonged periods of stress will inevitably cause a fatal attack, and that the weakening and partial loss of the lining around the heart should claim your life within the next two to four years, anyway, even without excessive outside stressors. Padmé – who does not fully comprehend what it means, to be a handmaiden, as she is Queen – wishes for you to retire, so you can live out the end of your time in peace, but I will not belittle your loyalty by asking you to consider such a thing. We need trainers and teachers for the new classes of handmaidens who will be sought out and chosen to replace the losses we took during the Trade Federation crisis, and I want you to consider shifting from active handmaiden duty to active instructor duty. Whether you accept this request or not, please know that I am proud of you, Gwené, and consider myself fortunate to have served with you, as a handmaiden,” and doesn’t hesitate a heartbeat before joyously accepting the challenge being posed to her by Sabé, utterly determined to make the most of her life in what little time she has left (though it is not so little as the med-droids and Healers claim, as it will eventually turn out: she will die not in two to four years, but rather seven years, two months, three weeks, and one day later, claimed by the vindictiveness of a traitor she and her cousin will have exposed in the course of training, and it will take a grenade that will take them _both_ out to actually overcome her).

**Author's Note:**

>  **Clarification Note:** One of the reasons why my AU **Star Wars** series _**You Became to Me**_ is so entirely not even nearly complete has to do with the fact that I really started writing at the wrong end of the prequel trilogy for an AU (in my defense, though, when I started what became my _Thwarting the Revenge of the Sith_ trio, which is over a million words long, I thought I was doing a sort of one-shot fix-it based on an idea I got for "fixing" RotS by changing something that happens very near the end of James Luceno's EU novel _Labyrinth of Evil_ , which is set immediately prior to RotS). One of these days, I fully intend to rectify that problem by going back and starting from the beginning, with an AU rewrite of TPM, which is why I took the time to do a character study sketch for a supporting character like Gwené. She'll be showing up again, in a more prominent role, whenever I get around to that AU rewrite of TPM. Folks might want to keep that in mind when reading this, since technically this is spoilerish for an AU novel that I haven't gotten around to writing yet!


End file.
